Domestic tourism refers to the illegal use of force undertaken by a group(s) or more people against property or other people to coerce a government, the civilian or any segment of the population in furtherance of social or political objectives. According the United States Patriotic Act, other acts of domestic terrorism are those that; affect the behavior of the government by assassinations, mass destruction or kidnappings and primarily occur under the jurisdiction of the Government. The most notable attacks associated with domestic tourism in the United States include; The wall street, Los Angeles Times building, Bath Michigan and Oklahoma bombings, the Austin IRS attack, 2001 anthrax attacks, murder of George Tiller and Holocaust memorial shootings.
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh was born on April 23, 1968 in Pendleton, New York. He was the second born child of Mildred, a travel agent and Bill McVeigh, an auto worker. His parents separated in the 1984 and became more reserved. At the age of eleven, his father bought him a 22-caliber rifle that he used for practice at the woods. He studied at the Bryant and Stratton Business College in Williamsville, New York. Opportunities for decent employment became small even though he had abilities. His interests in firearm later so him in 1987, get a job as a guard for the Burke Armored. Timothy joined the army in 1988 and assigned to 2nd Training Brigade. By the end of training, he was promoted to a private E-2 having managed to achieve the highest score. In 1989, he was joined the Army Special Forces, and on February 1991, he got promoted to a Sergeant. His main goal was to be a Green Beret, and when this became impossible due to a fail in psychological test he took an early discharge from the army and returned to his Pendleton, his home town. To fulfill his military obligation, he got employment as a guard with Burns Security and immediately assigned to the night shift guarding the Calspan Research grounds (Lyman, 2011).
Terror Organization
Timothy belonged to the Klu Klux Klan membership. That use violence, threats, arson and murder to increase their white supremacy and anti communist agenda. Given Timothy’s racial derogatory statements and racism he was aligned to this group. They viewed all the atrocities they undertook as collateral damage of a necessary patriotic war to save America.
Intention/Motivation
The greatest motivation Timothy McVeigh had his anger against the federal government’s handling of the 1992 Federal Bureau of Investigation standoff with randy weaver at the Ruby Ridge. Secondly, Timothy was also angered by the Waco siege that occurred in 1993, 51 day standoff between Branch Davidian members and the FBI that attempted to execute a search warrant resulting in a fire fight and the shootings and deaths of seventy five (75) people. Third, his hatred towards the government was increased by reading the Turner Diaries during his time at the military. His beliefs were supported by what he viewed as militia’s ideological opposition to raise taxes and the successful passage of the Brady Bill. His intentions were not only to destroy the Alfred Murray building but also to kill many people in order for his message to be sent all aver the United States. His motivation were reinforced when he individually said that the people died in the attacks were also guilty because they worked for the evil empire refereeing to the federal law agencies housed in the building (Lyman, 2011).
Actual Bombing
McVeigh and his accomplice Nicholas hired a Rental Ryder truck which they loaded nearly one hundred and eight (108) bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer approximately twenty three (23) kilograms each. Moreover, the truck was filled with three (3) gallon of liquid nitro methane, canon fuse, spools of shock tube, seventeen bags of ANFO and several crates of Tovex explosives. All these supplies were carefully placed into nail boards on to the floor and the front cab of the truck. On the day of attack, he wore a printed T-shirt with the writings thus always a tyrant words that were shouted by John Booth after the assassination of Lincoln. Timothy entered the Murray building with Ryder truck fused with all the in excess of 2,200 kilo grams of explosives and escaped on foot as he headed for the getaway vehicle (Lyman, 2011).
Effects
There were six hundred and forty six people were inside the building when the explosion took place. One hundred and sixty eight (168) people were killed. One third of the Murray building were destroyed, and the blast damaged three hundred and twenty four (324) buildings within a fifteen block radius and shuttered glass in two hundred and fifty (250) buildings nearby. Broken glass alone accounted for at least five percent (5%) of the death toll and sixty nine percent (69%) of the injuries both outside and inside the Murray building. The explosions left hundreds of people homeless and resulted to a shutdown of many offices in the city. The effects of the blast were equivalent to 2,300 kilo grams of TNT and could be felt and heard from up to ninety kilometer away. The recorded blast measured 3.0 on the Richter scale, and the estimated damage cost of the explosion was $ 652 million (Lyman, 2011).
Capture/ Punishment of McVeigh
McVeigh was arrested within ninety minutes of the explosion while travelling North on the Interstate 35 in Noble county driving his yellow Mercury Marquis that had no number plate. After a thorough search on his car, a business card with the writings ‘TNT at $5 a stick’ was found and later used as evidence during his trial. His trial began in 1997, having one hundred and thirty seven witnesses including his wife and his sister. After twenty three hours of deliberation, the jury found McVeigh guilty on eleven counts of murder and conspiracy (Lyman, 2011). Timothy was sentenced to the death penalty after approval by the then president George W. Bush he was executed by a lethal injection at the federal correctional Complex. His execution was transmitted on close circuit television for his family and relatives to witness his death.
Lyman, M. D. (2011). Criminal investigation: The art and the science (6th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
